U19 WORLD CUP – SEMI-FINAL – INDIA VS PAKISTAN – FANTASY PREVIEW

The most entertaining and awaited match of the ongoing Under 19 Cricket World Cup tournament, India vs Pakistan Semi-Final 2 takes place in Christchurch on January 30. India U19 reached the semi-final with an undefeated streak while Pakistan registered a hat-trick of wins in last 3 matches. The winner of this nail-baiting clash will meet Australia in the Final. So who will win this huge match? India or Pakistan? Match schedule to start at 10:30 AM Local | 3 AM IST on Tuesday, 30th January 2017.

INDIA U19 :

Three consecutive wins in group stage and well all around performances against Bangladesh in the quarter-final gave the Semi-Final birth to India. Top order batting and bowling are this young team’s strength in this edition of World Cup. In the quarter-final game against Bangladesh, skipper Prithvi Shaw’s 40 runs and Shubman Gill’s 86 runs put up India in well controlled position, but an average batting display in middle and lower-order batting hurt the team bit and they settled with the score of 265 all out. All-rounder Abhishek Sharma batting was the only rescue in the middle-order and he scored well deserved half-century. India should solve middle-order issues at right time because that’s their weak point in the tournament. Fast bowlers Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti bowled so well along the left-arm spin Abhishek Sharma. The maximum players of this U19 team sold for good prices in the recent IPL Auctions and they should come up with a good performance to assure that those selections were right.

Skipper Prithvi Shaw is in very good form and he sets the top order nicely with his partner Manjot Kalra. In the last game, Kalra dismissed for just 9 runs, but he could be back strong and we can expect a big score from him. The same applied to skipper Prithvi too, who batted so well in every match. The red hot form of Shubman Gill is the key for Indian team. His scores were 63 (54 balls), 90* (59) and 86 (94) runs respectively and he could score much bigger runs in this game. Wicket keeper Harvik Desai has replaced Aryan Juyal and contributed well with a bat. After scoring a fine half-century against Zimbabwe, he managed to score 34 runs against Bangladesh. There will be fight between Himanshu Rana and Riyan Parag for one place in the middle-order. Both are useful with both bat and bowl but both of them had shown an average performances till now.

All-rounder Abhishek Sharma used to score at good strike-rate in middle and end overs. His hard-hitting would play a big role in India’s batting. He also well capable with his left-arm spin bowling. He has claimed 5 wickets in 3 innings and also scored a good half-century in the last game. Anukul Roy is the other all-rounder who bowls left-arm spin. Anukul was at his best in group stage matches and picked a tally of 10 wickets in those 3 matches. He also bowled well against Bangladesh and picked 1 for 14 in 5 overs spell. Once he shines with bat too, he will change a game on his team’s favor. Nagarkoti who bowls nearly 150kmph, has taken three wickets haul twice in 4 matches. He is one of the must pick bowler for fantasy concerns. Shivam Mavi also contributes so well with his fast-medium bowling. He has claimed a tally of 8 wickets in 4 matches. The third left-arm spin option Shiva Singh bowls decent economical spells in every match. The fast bowler Ishan Porel was back in the XI for last game and his presence will add more strength to the bowling unit.

PAKISTAN U19 :

Pakistan started the tournament with a shocking loss against Afghanistan. But they have re-grouped well and corrected their error on time to reach knock-outs. Pakistan team has played with an unchanged XI in all 4 matches. Even after some average performances at top of the order in recent matches, Pakistan continued with the same XI. Wicket-keeper Rohail Nazir opens the batting with Muhammad Alam. Nazir who started with 81 runs against Afghan, had ups and downs in last three games. He should play long innings against India to put up a good total for the team. Other opener Muhammad Zaid Alam yet to score a half-century in the tournament but his shown some good contribution against both Ireland and Sri Lanka in the group stage. He also used to bowl some overs with his part-time seam bowling. Ammad Alam bats at no. 3 for Pakistan and he has scored only 22 runs in 3 innings so far. He kept his place in all 4 matches, but his poor form may opens the gate for either Imran Shah or Muhammad Mohsin Khan.

Ali Zaryab contributed with the bat in all three matches that he batted. After scored 30 and 59 runs in the group stage respectively, Zaryab played a match-winning knock of 74 not out against South Africa in the quarter-final. He is the major in-form batsman in the side and he has a big role to play in this game too. Skipper Hasan Khan has batted at various positions in the tournament. He is an all rounder and shined with a ball too. More than a batting, Hasan contributed much with a ball and claimed 7 wickets in 4 innings which includes a spell of 3 for 16 against Ireland. All rounder had an ups and downs in the tournament. He contributed with some runs in middle-order but his strike-rate might creates worry for the team. He used to bowl in two innings and had taken 1 wicket. Other middle-order batsman Saad Khan also in an average form in the tournament. Saad had involved in a very important partnership with Ali Zaryab and that helped the team to qualify for the semi-final. But he has to play better cricket with much better strike-rate to give a momentum to his team.

The seamer Muhammad Musa bowled very decent spells in first three matches but unfortunately he remained wicket-less in all those three games. Then, he came with a spell of 3 for 29 in 10 overs against South Africa which helped the team to be in Semis. He came back to form at right time and with that he has a role to play against the bitter rival India. The left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi is the best wicket taking bowler in the group. He has claimed a six wickets haul against Ireland in the group match and has a tally of 11 wickets in 4 matches. He will be the biggest threat for the opponent and he is expected to claim at least 2 wickets in this game. The leg-spinner Suleman Shafqat didn’t offer much with a ball in first two games but he came back so well against Sri Lanka to pick 3 for 29 runs. He will keep the place in the XI and hopefully will claim some wickets too. The 16-years old Arshad Iqbal had bowled well controlled economical spells in every matches and he picked a wicket each in last three matches. Iqbal’s good spells in the first power-play will play a huge role in this game.

Cricket is what everyone loves. If you’re ready to play fantasy cricket but don’t know how to analyze players, consider his Articles as the foundation of your fantasy teams. Anand is a cricket blogger and fantasy cricket lover.

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